The Next Generation
by javu
Summary: This takes place about 20ish years after the completion of the Charlie Bone series. It focuses around the next generation's (a.k.a. Charlie's kids) experience at the Bone Academy. Written in diary format, with many characters contributing to the story with overlap.
1. Chapter 1

_Isabelle Bone; August 28__th__, 2030._

Honestly, I swear, I am completely positive that Al and I are not related. I do not know how someone like him can be in the same family is me. Granted, dad has told me some crazy stories about his great-aunts, but I'm sure Al takes the cake. Take this morning for instance. There I was in my room getting ready to go to school, when Al comes bursting into my room, not even bothering to knock! It wouldn't have been so bad, except that I was changing! The indecency of him astounds me! And of course, he thinks it's hilarious and can't stop giggling for the next half an hour. I told mom about it, and she just said that we're all family and it doesn't matter. But it does matter. At least to me it does, anyway.

I don't know what people will say at the Academy. I wonder if Orion Gears will assume Al and I are siblings? … or maybe I can just say we have the same last name? Oh my gosh, what if he thinks that I'm just as uncivilized and gross as Al?!

On another note, mom volunteered to do my hair this morning. Again. When will she realize that a) I can do my own hair; and b) I'm just not into all of that … stuff that she does? I did my hair in a nice braid tied with a blue ribbon. My skirt is neatly ironed and my socks are straight. Once I settled my blue cape on my shoulders, I looked in the mirror: "Fabulous."

_Alphonse Bone; August 28__th__, 2030._

I really thought Isabelle was going to kill me this morning. But how was I to know that she was changing? She yelled at me a lot, and it went like this:

"Al! What do you think you're doing?"

"I just wanted to know—"

"Why didn't you knock?"

"—whether or not—"

"GET OUT!"

"—but I just—"

"Al! If you don't—blah blah blah blah bluh blah blah." Or something like that. I tuned out pretty quickly.

But never mind my bossy older sister; I'm finally going to the academy! I'm so excited! I've waited for this day for so long! Practically all my friends will be there and it will be so much fun! My parents and sister have told me all about it, and I've visited a few times, but it's not the same as actually being their yourself. I'm actually going to get on the green bus, walk and be silent in the hall, hang up my cloak in the cloak room and, well, a whole bunch of other stuff.

Dad wanted me to me in music and mom wanted me to be in drama, but I've chosen to be in art. They asked me why, and I said that I liked the colors. They accepted my reason even though that's not why I wanted to be in art. I have an ulterior motive; I just haven't told anyone yet.

_Christopher Raven; August 28__th__, 2030._

Sometimes, Lloyd really ticks me off. I don't think he necessarily does it on purpose, but he can be a real bragger. For the entire bus ride to the Academy he told me all he knows about what it will be like, which is silly because he's a first year as well. He's acting like I don't know anything about it. He probably thinks that just because his older sister is a 3rd year that he knows everything. I really wish I could just yell in his face that my dad, just like his, went to the Academy. Or even how my grandfather owns it. I know he knows these things, but he's acting like he doesn't!

_Grace Gunn; August 28__th__, 2030._

I can't help but feel bad for Chris. When Lloyd gets nervous or scared, his low self-esteem becomes evident. To compensate, Lloyd tends to brag and boast to Chris, whom he idolizes. Unfortunately, I don't think that Chris realizes any of this. I was talking to Hazel for most of the bus ride, so I couldn't intervene. Not that intervening is really my thing anyways.

_Hazel Silk; August 28__th__, 2030._

I'm really glad that Grace is also in the music department. She's so nice. I was quite nervous, seeing as I'm a first year, but she managed to sooth my anxiety. Thank goodness. Not that Lloyd helped at all. He and Chris were in the seat behind us and he would not stop jabbering. Good thing that he was talking to Chris. Chris would never lose his temper or anything. Good thing Josephine wasn't here! She would have put Lloyd in his place!

_Alphonse Bone; August 28__th__, 2030._

The bus ride was pretty much uneventful. I sat next to Gemma and Anthony, obviously. When we got off I remember looking around. I didn't see Isabelle, or anyone else I knew. But then I saw Josephine! And I had this brilliant idea to sneak up behind her and tackle her! Haha ha. I kinda sorta got blasted with some wind, but she usually blasts me every time I see her, so nothing unusual there. I landed on my butt on the cobblestone, she called me a dork, and she started walking away.

"See ya, Josephine!" I called after her. She didn't look back but raised her hand in acknowledgement.

_Josephine Torsson; August 28__th__, 2030._

I really like my friends, but sometimes, oh my goodness. There I was, looking all awesome on my first day of class when Al comes bounding up to me and tackles me. Right in front of everyone on the cobblestone! Fortunately, I blasted him with some wind before I hit the ground.

"Al! Don't be such a dork!" He stumbled back and landed right on his butt. He let out a tinkling laugh. Gosh, nothing got that kid down. It was the thing I liked about Al, but also something I didn't like so much at times. I turned my back on him and continued my march to the building.

"See ya, Josephine!" Al calls after me. I don't look back, just raise my hand.

_Gemma Endless; August 28__th__, 2030._

I have mixed feelings about going to the Academy. I really like being at home, just me and dad. And now that I'm here I will see more of Alera, which I'm not looking forward to. But all my friends are here, so… mixed bag I guess. We're in different years, so maybe I won't see too much of her? And she's endowed, and I'm not. Maybe I won't see her at all? I probably shouldn't get my hopes up.

On another note, the girls in my dorm are nice. My best friend Hazel is in the same dorm, thank goodness.


	2. Chapter 2

_Alera Endless; August 29__th__, 2030 (3__rd__ year in Drama; endowed)_

I dressed quickly and quietly. It was early – dawn had not even shown itself. You might ask why I was up so early, a few hours before class. Well, I had work to do.

I hurried myself down the corridors with a small flashlight in hand, all the way to the art storage rooms. I didn't say anything – secrecy was valued. Then something moved from behind one of the stack boxes. I drew in a breath, wondering –

"About time! I've been here for ten minutes already!" said Veronica, my best friend, and the only person I thought would ever understand me.

"That's because you're always early!" I replied. Then we both smiled at each other. "So you said you wanted to try an experiment?"

"Yes," she answered, pushing back her thick, brown hair. "I was reading through my mother's books over break and… I think I found something that could be useful."

"You naughty girl, Veronica," I joked, "what did you find?"

"The book – written by one of my ancestors who had similar … talents, as I do. Apparently she had a friend who had the exact same endowment as you do!"

"Yes!" I nearly hissed with anticipation.

"And together, with both of their powers, they created something of unusual power, something I believe that will not easily be thwarted," explained Veronica.

"What is it?" I asked.

"How about I just show you?" And she walked over to one of the counters. There was a clear pitcher and a sink. She filled the pitcher with water.

"When I signal you, do your worst!" Veronica said and I nodded. Veronica then held the pitcher around the middle, closed her eyes, and began to hum. After about a minute she nodded to me, still eyes closed. I tenderly placed my fingers on the pitcher. Instead of closing my eyes like Veronica, I stared intently at the water. In a matter of seconds the water turned to ice. Another moment later the glass pitcher cracked and then shattered completely. It fell to the ground in pieces; however, the ice stayed where it was, floating in mid-air. My hands were now less than a centimeter from the mass. The ice began transforming to a dark purple color, bubbling and gurgling. Veronica opened her eyes.

"Okay, stop," said Veronica. I let go and took a step back. Veronica was holding it up with her magic. She muttered a word under her breath, and said, "Touch it."

"What?"

"It's fine, said Veronica. She touched it. "See?"

I then gently followed her example and touched the bubbling globe, and I was very surprised to see that it was still frozen, even though it was moving.

"How?" I asked.

"No idea."

We both stood there, transfixed by our creation. Veronica kept caressing it, as if she couldn't get enough of it. Personally, I thought it was both beautiful and disgusting at the same time. The purple color was gorgeous, and the fact that it was ice made me proud. But the bubbling and the gurgling shade and sound were revolting.

For what happened then, I blame Veronica. The whole thing was her idea to begin with, and in her control. The frozen mass began bubbling all the more viciously until it looked almost elastic, pulling itself every which way as if stretching.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm not doing anything!"

"Then I suppose it's doing it by itself!"

"It's not alive, Alera!" her scorn cut through me. "It's my magic!"

"Then you better get your magic to stop!" I shot back as the globe wobbled precariously in Veronica's hands. In one quick second it _hopped_ out of her hands, out of her control, and sort of stumbled over itself to one of the walls.

"How is it not alive?" I hissed at her.

"Catch it!" And we both ran after our creation as it escaped, yes, escaped from the room. It found a crack in the wall and slipped through. We both crashed into the wall, trying to get it.

"Where'd it go?" asked Veronica, dumb-founded.

"How would I know?" And we stood there for quite some time until the bell rang to go to class.

_Alphonse Bone; August 29__th__, 2030 (1__st__ year in Art; endowed)_

So. Second day of class. I don't know why I thought I would be good at art. Everyone else in my class is brilliant but I'm just that endowed kid who doesn't know squat. Anthony is endowed and in art but he's somehow good at sculpting. Maybe he gets it from his dad; I know that Mr. Sage is quite the sculpture-man thing. And the only other people I know in art are Anthony's older brother, Evandor, who is also endowed and good at art (lucky sod), and Gemma. She's not endowed but she's _brilliant_ at painting.

So, art class went like this:

Mr. Davis: Bone, can you actually do anything?

Me: Of course, Mr. Davis sir! I can do math and make toast—

Mr. Davis: This isn't cooking class, Bone!

Me: My grandfather thinks I make good toast!

Mr. Davis: Your grandfather asdfklansdiogjalsdkjgfasdkfa jsdfjieocnb,mczpeiut!

So, I sort of forgot what he said after that.

Gemma kind of took me under her wing after that though and Mr. Davis left me, thank goodness. I'm a bit surprised that Gemma stepped forward like that; usually she's all shy and stuff. Anyway, Gemma had me start with this kind of paint called "akrelic" or something. And then she had me try and copy what she was painting: a brown cat on blank parchment paper. Even I could tell that what she was doing was really simple; yet, my cat ended up looking more like a ewok.

Which poses a new question: if I go into my painting, will it be a cat or an ewok? I'm not sure I want to find out.

_Isabelle Bone; August 29__th__, 2030 (4__th__ year in Music, unendowed)_

Orion Gears is the most beautiful, most talented, most wonderful boy I have ever met. He. Is. So. Dreamy. I know mom would approve, probably not dad. His earrings might be too _risky_. Or his spiky hair and black boots. Or maybe dad would approve – he went for mom, anyway, with all her crazy outfits and colorful hair. And Orion is an amazing pianist! At least Grandpa Bone was impressed at the last concert, so that counts for something, right?

I had an excellent opportunity today at break to go and talk to him, and I took advantage.

We were all out in the courtyard, and Orion was walking with some friends, me slightly behind them. He stopped and bent down to clasp one of the buckles on his boots that had come undone. His friends hadn't noticed and had kept walking. I quickened my stride until I was near him. He looked up at me.

"Oh! Uh—hi!" he said to me.

"Heyyy…" I said suavely. Slight pause as he stood up.

"You're, uh, Isabelle, right?" He said my name!

"Yeah, that's right! And you're Orion Gears!"

"Nice." Nice? Nice what? Nice hair? Nice eyes? Nice talent on the piano? Nice—we should do a duet together—sort of nice?

"We're in the same Intermediate Piano class," I said.

"Oh—are we?" I love how he tries to play it cool.

"Uh-huh."

"Right. We'll see-ya."

Yes, I still can't take it all it. I talked to Orion Gears – for the first time! Best. Break. Ever!

_Christopher Raven; August 29__th__, 2030 (1__st__ year in Music, unendowed)_

I am a quiet person. Always have been, and always will be. I listen more than I talk, and I think that is why I can see certain things. I observe people and I learn things about them. In my own way, I am wise. I am not bragging; it's the truth. For example, today at break I saw Isabelle walking in deep concentration, so I watched her. And sure enough, she was trailing after that Orion Gears guy. He had bent down to adjust his boot and she scuttled right up to him, way too close. No wonder he was startled when he saw her.

The thing you have to know about Isabelle is that … how do I put it? She means well, but sometimes she gets caught up in her own world. Okay, so she likes Orion Gears. Not the best choice, but whatever. Then she goes and stalks him over break, yes, stalks. I'm not even sure if she realizes that she stalked him. The moment he gets separated from his friends she jumps right in there, he does not notice until she is way into his personal space.

I was on a bench close to where they were, and I am guilty of eavesdropping on them, I will not deny. "Heyyyy"? Really? Could she not say anything more surfacy? And then she's acting like he just randomly spot her when she crept all up on him. He barely knows her name, and he didn't know that they were in the same class. Could he not be any more _not_ interested in her? Yet, she walked away from him with a huge smile on her face.

At least she's happy, for now. She's my cousin, but she's practically my sister. I do not want to see her get hurt. I wish she would realize that he is not interested in her and that she can do so much better.

_Evandor Sage; August 29__th__, 2030 (5__th__ year in Art, endowed)_

Second day of classes are over and all of us, the endowed, that is, doing homework in the King's Room. My father, Lysander Sage, says that there are a lot of us now than there were when he was at the Academy. He did some research, and he told me that some of the endowed hid their talents when the Bloors owned the Academy. Apparently, these Bloors people could boss people around, and if they found out you were endowed, they somehow or another arranged for you to attend the Academy whether you wanted to or not. Father says that the Bones aren't like that, and I agree. Even though the Bones do not force the endowed to attend their Academy, they encourage it, and they accept everyone, even if some of the students aren't so … nice.

I am a fifth year and one of the senior students. The only other fifth year who is endowed is Damian Wysor. He's alright. To be honest, I don't know too much about him. I don't think anyone knows what his endowment is; he's kind of a loner. I do know that he is talented with the violin. Most of the endowed aren't gifted in music, art, or drama, so it is unusual when one of us is. I spoke with Anthony briefly on break today. Apparently Al had it rough in art class today. Poor kid.

The senior of the endowed children is Sylvia Meijer. She's nice and fair. She's stable-minded and good with handling situations. I get along with her. She is in music and she is clairvoyant. She's especially good when it comes to feelings and emotions. I suspect that's why she is good with being an intermediate between people at times.

The only seventh year is a bloke called Ian Bell. You could say we're at odds. He's got a powerful endowment.

There are two sixth years, Shelly de Vries and Melanie Gordon. Both are in drama and they are best friends. I do not know what Shelly's endowment is, but Emilia's isn't hard to guess when you see her cat-like face.

Bradley Drake is a year below me in art and makes no attempts to hide his endowment. He is a metal-tinkerer. I suppose it's in all of his art classes that he creates little pets out of metal. His favorite is an iron pterodactyl , which flies around at his will. He's a bit of a show off.

Alera Endless is the daughter of one of my father's friends. Even so, I am not fond of her. I think she picks on her little sister, Gemma, who is in Anthony's year. I know that all older siblings pick on the younger ones, but there's something off about their relationship. Gemma is usually really quiet and shy, so I doubt she would speak or stick up for herself if something was wrong. I don't remember what Alera was like before their mother died, but maybe she blames Gemma for their mother's death? Aside from odd family relations, I also get a weird vibe from Alera. She has an interesting endowment. Then again, all endowments are interesting.

Alera's fellow third year is Veronica Steele, and I have no idea what her endowment is. I dislike her most out of all of the endowed children, I think. She thinks she's so above the rest of us.

There are two second years: Mary Harrison and Zeke Porter. I know Mary has telekinesis, and she's nice enough. I don't trust Zeke. At all. His teeth are all crooked. And I know that's a completely illogical reason to distrust someone, but there you have it. I mentioned it to father, and he said to trust my instincts when it came to endowment stuff, so I will.

As for the first years, there are four of them. Quite a large batch when it comes to endowed kids. And I know each one of them. There is my own little brother, Anthony. My parents have no idea where his endowment came from. Mine obviously came from my father. Hazel Silk is the only endowed child in her family, but she also has her father's talent for the piano. She has a different sort of endowment. Josephine Torson is a real handful. She has her father's talent and an even worse temper. And lastly, Alphonse Bone, but everyone just calls him Al. And I don't know what to say about Al, other than just that he's one crazy kid.

Speaking of Al… he just came into the King's Room, ten minutes late. I'm not surprised.


End file.
